With the advent of computer networks and networked printers, users are now able to select different printers on a network for different print jobs. Users choose different printers on a network depending on a number of factors. For example, if a user wants to print numerous copies of a document, a user may choose a high speed printer, which may rasterize the document one time, but prints multiple copies so as to maintain print speed for the entire print job. Moreover, a user may choose a printer that is in close proximity to the user, or which is in close proximity to an intended recipient of the document. Similarly, a user may choose a printer based on other features of the printer, including printer model, media selection options, graphics capability, color, etc.
However with existing networked printer systems, each time a user wants to select a different printer or print a print job with different attributes, the user must submit a new print request identifying a print destination and a corresponding print format. Moreover, a user printing to the same printer must submit a new print request for each print job with different attributes. Such systems are time consuming, especially where a user wants to print the same document on multiple printers, because the user must submit a new print job for each printer selected. For example, a user who wants to print a document on two remote printers and two local printers must submit four print requests (one for each printer), each indicating the specific print attributes desired. Additionally, a user who wants to print a document on A-4 media and on letter media on the same printer must submit two print requests (one for each attribute set).
The additional steps required to submit multiple print jobs for the same document seems especially burdensome when a user regularly sends print jobs to an identical grouping of printers. For example, if a user each week prints an updated report at printers in six departments, then every week the user must make six individual print requests to the six printers. The user each week must resubmit the same set of print requests.
What is needed is a system and method that permits a user to send multiple print jobs with a single print request. Furthermore, it would be useful if the user could customize each of the multiple print jobs. Moreover, it would be desirable if a user could access a preselected set of print jobs.